Officials say some brands of chili sauce linked to botulism

WASHINGTON -- Federal health officials warned consumers Wednesday to throw away certain cans of hot dog chili sauce after the product was linked to the first cases of botulism in commercially canned foods in decades.

Four people were hospitalized. The warning applies to 10-ounce cans of Castleberry's, Austex and Kroger brands of hot dog chili sauce with "best by" dates from April 30, 2009, through May 22, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration said. It wasn't immediately clear how widely the products were distributed.

The contamination by the toxin is extremely rare for a commercially canned product. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention medical epidemiologist Dr. Michael Lynch said the last such U.S. case dates to the 1970s. The roughly 25 cases reported each year typically involved home-canned foods, Lynch said.

The victims -- two each in Texas and Indiana -- were seriously ill but expected to survive. The Texas cases involved children who are siblings. The Indiana cases involved an adult couple. No other details were available.

The products were made by the Castleberry Food Co., owned by Bumble Bee Seafoods LLC. The company, based in San Diego, had no immediate comment.

FDA has sent experts to the Castleberry plant in Augusta, Ga., where the products were canned, said Robert Brackett, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.